Euro 2024: Spain x Croatia, Match Preview, Odds, Team News and Predictions(15/06/2024)

Olympiastadion will surely be electric when Spain and Croatia play in the Group B opening. The previous two warm-up games saw La Furia Roja easily defeat Andorra (5-0) and Northern Ireland (5-1), but defeating Luka Modric and company will be challenging. Alvaro Morata, Rodri, and Lamine Yamal are among the well-known players Luis de la Fuente still has to pick from after Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio, Marcos Llorente, Pau Cubarsi, and Aleix Garcia were left out.

In contrast, Zlatko Dalic's squad shocked a star-studded Portugal (2-1) in their last friendly, and they are now out to take another significant victory. With the number of seasoned players on the away side (Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic, Andrej Kramaric), betting on a draw is very valuable. Josko Guardiol of Man City is primarily set to start against Spain despite his worn-out legs.

Spain x Croatia Team News

The Spanish national team has needed some help getting ready for forthcoming games. Right now, they have yet to win in two games. They unexpectedly lost to Colombia at the West Ham stadium, and then they played Brazil in an entertaining 3-3 draw in Madrid. The gifted Gavi had an ACL injury while playing against Georgia during their Euro 2024 qualification campaign. He might have to miss the successive finals because of this ailment. 

Still, Rodri of Manchester City is the most valued player in Spain. Defencemen Dani Carvajal and Aymeric Laporte are excellent assets, while Unai Simón will likely remain Spain's best goalkeeper. The way Spain manages the midfield in their first game might determine their success since Croatia has some excellent players.

Conversely, Croatia is set to have a team with several seasoned players. Seven had more than fifty caps in their most recent game. Among them are midfielders Luka Modrić, Marcelo Brozović and Mateo Kovačić; Kramarić is another well-known personality who is likely to lead their line.

With his 39th birthday coming up later this year, Modrić will once again have to dictate how Croatia plays. With players like Joško Gvardiol at his side, he ought to have plenty of support, and they ought to give Spain a tough fight.

Head To Head And Previous Matches

Spain faced minor challenges in acclaiming the top spot in their qualifying division, surpassing nations such as Norway, Scotland, Georgia, and Cyprus. In the process, they have scored twenty-five goals and won seven of the eight games. With 13 goals in the last three matches, Luis de la Fuente's team has carried over their outstanding offensive form into friendly.

In their Euro qualification phase, Croatia unexpectedly placed second. Their attendance in the major continental competition was never in question, however. The Croats want to build on the victories from the last two World Cups. Their respective finishes in these competitions are second and third.

Spain and Croatia have fought in several very significant battles recently. Spain won the UEFA Nations League final the previous year and defeated Croatia on penalties in the last-16 round of the last Euro.

Spain recorded just one regular-time win in the previous five encounters with Croatia. We saw goals at both ends in three of their past five head-to-head encounters.

Our Predictions

Croatia to win or draw @1.90 on Sky247.ng

With Croatia at 1.90 to avoid a loss, the value is undoubtedly with them. Recall that the Croats have only lost one in the last five normal-time H2H encounters versus Spain.

We have plenty more reasons to anticipate a fantastic match in the German city on Saturday, as both sides will be coming into the game on a high. In their past two exhibition games against Northern Ireland and Andorra, Spain scored five goals each. They also tied Brazil 3-3 in a friendly in March of this year.

Croatia sent Portugal packing in their last inspection before the Euro. Last weekend, Luka Modric and Ante Budimir scored goals as the team won 2-1. Six straight games in all competitions have seen the Croats remain undefeated. They have five w.

Both teams are to score @1.83 on Sky247.ng 

We can barely envision either side maintaining a clean sheet on Saturday in Berlin since Spain and Croatia have a lot of weaponry on show in the final third.

There were goals at both ends of four of Spain's previous six games. The last three friendlies Croatia played also featured three goals or more. The wager on both teams to score at the 1.83 odds has excellent value.

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